Page 129 of The Dark Obsession

All breath leaves me as I sag against the wooden pole that’s holding up the porch.

“My half-brothers are your half-siblings as well. But while you share a father with them, I share a mother.”

“Come again?” I struggle to wrap my head around what just came out of him.

“There’s no blood between us, Malory.”

I’ve never felt a deeper sense of relief than upon hearing those words.

“Would that have stopped you?”

“Probably not,” He admits shamelessly. “I have no brotherly feelings towards you, little one. And I won’t let anything stand between us. Illegal or not, it’s of no consequence to me.” My jaw slackens as he goes on.

“We aren’t bound to laws and morals. So why would I give a fuck about incest when the only truth in life that matters is that you’re mine.”

Why does that sound so romantic and so wrong at the same time?

Tyson has crossed the lines of what’s morally right countless of times and yet I never faulted him for it.

So this doesn’t come as a surprise really.

But what I can’t forgive easily is that he lied to me. Because in my books, omission certainly falls under that category.

I’ve been understanding that he didn’t want to talk about certain things in his life, yet not when it directly affected me.

It all makes sense now.

His hatred for my father, him stalking me in the first place. All those cryptic comments about his brothers.

I was too blinded by his undivided affection I so desperately yearned for to see the hints right in front of me.

Now that I see it all clearly.

Being betrayed by the one person I trusted the most in this world, it hurts so much.

Watching my heart break right in front of him, my anguish mirrors Tyson’s.

Even after all of this, my resolve to hate him shatters the moment I see the deep etched regret in his tortured gaze.

I can be mad and upset all I want, but I can’t hate him.

It’s impossible.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I hug my trembling body, bracing myself to stay upright.

I have siblings.

Two brothers to be exact.

When I was little, I dreamed about having an older brother, someone who would take care of me, take the brunt of my mother’s antics. To not be so alone.

“You had no right to keep this from me!” I glare at the man before me.

“Would you have run straight to them if you knew?” His words hit me straight in the chest.

“You made sure I didn’t have that choice!” I yell over the sound of rain beating down on the roof above.

Again, he doesn’t say anything. But doesn’t offer any empty excuses either.

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